• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Parts of an argument: claim, reason, evidence, counterclaim, rebuttal). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. What role does this sentence play in an argument? A survey of 2,000 adults found that one in four cannot cook a basic meal. (reason / evidence / counterclaim / rebuttal) → evidencePrompt: Is it the writer's main position, an explanation why, a fact/figure/example, the other side's view, or a reply to the other side?
2. Which sentence works as this part of an argument: evidence? (Safe lanes encourage people to leave their cars at home. / Our town needs more bike lanes. / A survey of 2,000 adults found that one in four cannot cook a basic meal.) → A survey of 2,000 adults found that one in four cannot cook a basic meal.Prompt: Is it the writer's main position, an explanation why, a fact/figure/example, the other side's view, or a reply to the other side?
3. What role does this sentence play in an argument? Some parents argue that a later start would make it hard for them to get to work. (reason / evidence / counterclaim / rebuttal) → counterclaimPrompt: Is it the writer's main position, an explanation why, a fact/figure/example, the other side's view, or a reply to the other side?

• Read the first lines of a short text aloud and ask what students predict will happen and why.
• Share the objective: Persuasive techniques: rhetorical questions, statistics, anecdotes…. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Which persuasive technique matches this description? Grouping ideas or words in threes to make them memorable.
• Step 1: Persuasive writers combine appeals to feeling (emotive language, anecdotes) with appeals to logic and authority (statistics, expert opinion), plus memorable patterns (rule of three, rhetorical questions, direct address).
• Step 2: rule of three: Grouping ideas or words in threes to make them memorable.
• Step 3: So the answer is: rule of three
• Answer: rule of three
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. Which persuasive technique matches this description? Numbers and data used to make a point seem factual. (expert opinion / statistics / rhetorical question / rule of three) → statisticsPrompt: Think of how each technique works on the reader.
2. Which persuasive technique is used here? Dr Amara Okafor, a leading sleep scientist, recommends at least eight hours a night for teenagers. (emotive language / anecdote / statistics / expert opinion) → expert opinionPrompt: Is it a question, a number, a story, a quotation from an expert, a list of three, strong feelings, or 'you'?

• Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
• Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. Which persuasive technique is used here? Over 70% of residents support the new cycle lane. (statistics / rhetorical question / direct address / emotive language) → statisticsPrompt: Is it a question, a number, a story, a quotation from an expert, a list of three, strong feelings, or 'you'?
2. Which persuasive technique matches this description? Grouping ideas or words in threes to make them memorable. (statistics / rule of three / direct address / emotive language) → rule of threePrompt: Think of how each technique works on the reader.

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-8.